


Mama Liked The Roses (A Mother's Day Ficlet)

by amsterdamned (Icewolf51)



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: M/M, Mother's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-11
Updated: 2014-05-11
Packaged: 2018-01-24 10:23:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1601444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icewolf51/pseuds/amsterdamned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Mother's Day, and Eames has a job to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mama Liked The Roses (A Mother's Day Ficlet)

“Do you remember your mother, Arthur?”

Arthur blinks, looking up from his papers. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

Eames smirks, but then immediately frowns. “Jealousy, perhaps.”

“You don’t remember yours?”

Eames shrugs. “I suppose I do, vaguely. But it was more a choice to leave than it was an obligation. I’m more jealous of the fact that you stayed around long enough to say that confidently.”

Arthur gives him a strange look and Eames swallows. He’s never felt so bad about a job before.

“Is she still alive?” Arthur asks, looking back down.

Eames shakes his head. “She died a couple years ago of cancer. I never knew.”

“I’m sorry, Eames.”

“Don’t be. It’s nothing, really.”

Ariadne walks over and sets two cups of coffee down in front of them, Eames’s with milk and sugar, Arthur’s black and steaming. “You guys almost done here? It’s almost time to close up shop.”

Arthur gives his papers one last glance then hands them over to her. “I’m done. Eames?”

Eames nods. “I’ll see you all tomorrow then,” he says, averting his eyes. “Happy Mother’s Day.”

They say their goodbyes and Eames waits exactly two minutes after they walk out the door before he stands and stretches. He checks his phone, sees a little dot moving quickly down the street toward a parking lot, and leaves to follow.

Eames thinks he’s pretty good at his job. He’s got a good cover, a good reputation, and a good mindset. People only die for a reason, at least if the death is intentional. Nobody hires somebody to kill another person for no reason, especially at the rate he’s selling.

This job he was hesitant about taking, however. For some reason, he’s always had a soft spot for Arthur. He was so easily teased, so easily broken. They slept together once in Bruges, solely out of boredom, and then another three times in the same weekend. Arthur’s butt is, admittedly, delicious.

Butt Eames puts that out of his mind as the little dot on his phone starts speeding up, an indicator that Arthur has gotten into his car. Eames takes his time once he gets to his own, carefully loading his gun and placing it gently in the passenger’s seat. He waits until Arthur’s car has hit the highway before he starts up the engine and begins to follow.

He’s going to miss Arthur a bit, but he’ll get over it. Half the time the man was a nuisance anyway. He’s always been suspicious of Eames, even before they got into dreamshare. Eames supposes that it isn’t completely unwarranted, consider his profession. At least he’ll be out of the way.

The highway is particularly clear today, for some reason. Arthur is in the left lane with no indication of going anywhere anytime soon, so that’s where Eames stays as well. It’s at least forty minutes later when Arthur finally gets off at the exit for Santa Cruz, and Eames wonders why he’s come all this way for a hotel room if San Jose is big enough to cover all of them separately. He picks up the pace so that he can eventually just see Arthur a little ways off, his black Audi R8 the identifying object in the distance.

Eames follows him off the exit and reaches over for his gun, sliding it into the back of his pants. It’s still light out, only about 8 o’clock, but Eames thinks that he might be able to get away with it in daylight if he’s headed somewhere quiet.

And in fact he is-- it’s a nice suburb, close to the water, but still far enough away where there aren’t many tourists. Eames is sure that Arthur hasn’t seem him, his car indistinct enough that it shouldn’t be noticeable. Just as Arthur makes a turn into a cul-de-sac, Eames gets a text.

 

_Russell, 8:09 pm, May 11th_

Is it done?

 

Eames doesn’t respond right away. He watches Arthur pull into the driveway of a one story Spanish style house. He gets out of his car with a bouquet of purple roses, and something strikes Eames right in the chest. He watches as Arthur approaches the door, looking more relaxed than Eames has ever seen him. An elderly, graying woman appears in the doorway, pulling Arthur into her arms with a joyous expression on her face. Arthur hugs her back, careful to keep the roses from touching her back, and then holds them out to her. She takes them and then kisses his cheek, pulling him inside by the hand.

Eames swallows. He watches through the window and Arthur leans down and picks up a dog, happily allowing it to lick his face. He lays the gun back down on the passenger’s seat and rubs his hands over his eyes.

He can’t let this get in the way. He can’t.

And then, from the corner of his eye, someone who looks exactly like the female version of Arthur rushes in and kisses Arthur on the cheek the exact same way the old woman had. She smiles at him and he ruffles her hair and looks happier than Eames has ever seen.

A sigh escapes him. His phone buzzes again. He throws it out the window and drives away.

 


End file.
